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"Save Me" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, written for the 1999 film Magnolia. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. It was released on the Magnolia soundtrack.

Writing

The actor and comedian Dave Foley said Mann wrote "Save Me" about him while they were in a relationship. Foley said he was "the only man Aimee's written a positive song about", and that "to have this song written was such a balm to my soul at that point".

Reception

"Save Me" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Mann performed it at the 72nd Academy Awards. It lost to "You'll Be in My Heart", by Phil Collins, from the Disney film Tarzan. By way of introduction to a live performance, Mann referred to "Save Me" as "the song that lost an Oscar to Phil Collins and his cartoon monkey love song". "Save Me" was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Mann later said the song "really gave a blood transfusion to my career. But it wasn't like I went from playing to five people to 5,000 people. It was just a real influx of energy."

In 2022, Pitchfork named "Save Me" the 193rd-best song of the 1990s. The critic Eric Torres wrote: "Subtly informed by a long period of disappointment, 'Save Me' is wry but surefooted ... The featherlight production and songwriting belie its inevitable punch: Here, Mann underscores the raw tenderness that comes with searching for help."

Music video

The music video, shot during the filming of Magnolia, was directed by the film's director, Paul Thomas Anderson, and uses many of the film's actors, including Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Cruise, William H. Macy, and John C. Reilly. The video inserts Mann into various scenes from the film as she performs the song. Unlike many such music videos, the "Save Me" video used no digital manipulation; the scenes were shot at the end of filming days with Mann and actors who were asked to stay in place.

References

1. Seel, Steve (15 November 2012). "Theft of the Dial: Dave Foley". KCMP. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
2. ^ McLevy, Alex (25 June 2020). "Aimee Mann got cinematic with the gorgeous Magnolia soundtrack". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
3. Berman, Judy (17 November 2019). "Aimee Mann: Bachelor No. 2 or, the Last Remains of the Dodo". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2021-11-07.
4. "Concert Review: Austin City Limits Music Festival 2006 - Day Two". Blogcritics.org. 2006-09-19. Retrieved 2011-05-25.
5. Doug Bleggi (November 21, 2018). "'Til Today: 25 years after her solo debut, Aimee Mann looks back". Stereogum. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
6. "The 250 Best Songs of the 1990s". Pitchfork. 27 September 2022. Retrieved 30 October 2022.

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